Dealing with Burnout

I’ve had to make some changes to my habits lately due to the onset of burnout. I spend a lot of my free time doing something – I’m writing this while on the train on my way to teach a class. Having done this for a while I’m used to it even though I know it’s not healthy.

My activity of choice is usually reading but is often watching DVDs (mainly instructionals). As much as possible I try to use my downtime to learn. This is great because I keep a constant stream of new ideas coming in but is bad because I rarely ‘make’ time to let my brain rest.

Recently this has been particularly bad because I’m juggling a bunch of extra things on top of my usual load of activities. After a long weekend of teaching I’m feeling like curling up and going to sleep for a few days. Not from physical tiredness but from mental tiredness.

It’s a weird feeling, I’m weary and a little fuzzy around the edges. This lack of sharpness can be a problem when I’m training because I tend to pick up knocks.

So how do I go about beating the burnout?

I’m launching a multi pronged attack that is physical and mental.

1) I have made my diet a lot healthier recently, for too long I have eaten and drunk what I could get away with due to the amount of training I did. While not massively unhealthy I did indulge my sweet tooth too much and was at the mercy of insulin and rollercoaster blood-sugar levels. I have massively increased the fruit and vegetable content of my diet and reduced the nutrient-sapping caffiene.

This means I feel fresher, more energised and recover faster becasue my body is getting the fuel it needs. Plus I'm losing weight gradually which is making me feel healthier week upon week.

2) Building upon this foundation of healthier eating practices I am engineering times in my day where I am not working. Lunchtime is no longer taken at my desk but inolves a walk out in town to get some fresh air and then I eat food brought in from home.

As well as this I make sure that I have a number of ‘screen breaks’ although these could, more accurately, be called desk breaks. If I take a few minutes every hour to get up and walk around I feel much better throughout the course of the day and am still fresh deep into the afternoon.

The single biggest method for this is to not email or phone people within the office but rater make a point of going and talking to them instead. This helps me politically a huge deal too. I’m seen as the most approachable member of my section of the company because I work to network, this relievs tension and prevents stress (another contributing factor of burnout)

3) Making my free time free. Admittedly this is the hardest of the lot. Too often I’m tempted by magazines, books, blogs, discussion boards and the like. I commute to and from work and the gym and have stopped reading while I am. I’m trying to use these times as natural ‘firebreaks’, allowing me to switch from work-coaching-home mode more effectively.

I’m away this weekend and will be doing nothing work wise, taking no books and may even do something in a leisurely fashion to shake off this burnout before it digs it’s claws in.

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Results of Needs Analysis so far

I've collated the first batch of results from the Needs Analysis and taken averages from the two main sets of results so we can see, as a trend, where people's motivations are shifting. I've split the results into ones based on martial arts, fitness and life goals.

View the results and see how people's interest is changing, the blue line shows interest upon starting and the red line shows motivation after a period of training.

If you haven't filled in the needs analysis, it can be found here. Please fill it in so we can get a more accurate picture of what you guys are looking to get out of your training.

Remember to fill in sections A&C if you've only been training for less that 3 months, and all three sections if you've been training over 3 months.

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Must-buy DVD

A new Bill Hicks release on DVD

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Why ‘Revolution’?

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve had some seriously brain-bending discussions covering a range of things some personal, some group-based. One of the topics that came up yesterday was the meaning of the club name Revolution.

The thinking behind the name came from a desire to move away from our old brand – Stockport Submission Fighting – for three reasons.

• The use of location in the name would hinder future growth


• Having fighting in the name scared off many of the people who would find the training environment most beneficial


• Despite our continued delusions, the general population of the UK knows more about Paris Hilton’s ex-dog than they do about Submission Fighting and other forms of MMA

These considerations drove me to look at a name that more effectively portrayed what we do and, more importantly, how and why we do it.

The initial idea was Evolution, hackneyed but relevant. The club had undergone a huge transformation over a short space of time, largely due to the introduction of the CM programme and the rapid improvement of a core group of the club’s members.

This idea grew into Revolution to reflect the cyclical nature of our teaching, always returning to the fundamentals and building a spiral of development that reinforces prior learning rather than a linear route that leaves existing training behind.

More recently the name Revolution has taken on a whole new meaning and seems to be more appropriate due to the recent shifts in the direction of the club.

‘Revolution is a drastic change that usually occurs relatively quickly. This may be a change in the social or political institutions over a relatively short period of time, or a major change in its culture or economy. Some revolutions are led by the majority of the populace of a nation, others by a small band of revolutionaries’
From Wikipedia

The major cultural change is the drive behind the CM Life programme, harnessing the benefits of training in a positive martial arts environment and leveraging them in other aspects of our lives. Why is this drastic? For the most part this is something that gets a lot of lip service but very little actual attention. We believe that understanding yourself is the end goal of training at Revolution, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Yes, you’ll get fit, lose weight, learn to defend yourself, make friends, manage stress and many other things but most of all you will learn to step out of your comfort zone, on a number of levels. The physical training can be challenging and from that challenge a new confidence is forged. Alongside that you will be asked to engage in your training on other levels, we want people to come in and bring new ideas, thoughts, methods and practices to the party. Everyone is able to speak their mind and their heart, there is no need to dumb-down or suppress who you are.

So how does this relate to the name?

Change! Each and every person at Revolution is undergoing a journey of self-discovery, sometimes painful, often frustrating, regularly confusing, but always rewarding. The aim is for everyone to have their own revolution, change your ideas of yourself, fight off the shackles and burdens of expectation and start a new world order. Even if it is just your own world.

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Client Needs Analysis

Hi everyone.

I’ve uploaded an online Needs Analysis to help us pin down what people want to get from your training and what changes I need to make to ensure that you’re getting what you want.

It takes a couple of minutes to fill in and will really help us refine what we’re doing.

It can be found at revolutiongym.co.uk/needs_analysis.php.

Thanks for your help.

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Linking up with SKD

As most of you know I've been going up to SKD for the past few months and working with them, which is going really well. They mustn't be getting fed up with me yet because Ste has asked us if we want to get involved in a couple of socials they're doing.

The first of these is on 6/5/06 and is a food and drink in Manchester outing.

The second is on 21/5/06 and is a training session followed by watching UFC and eating pizza and other really healthy food.

See you all there.

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